are we all just a bunch of animals?

It's 11:15, and I should really get to bed, but I can't stop thinking about something. As I have watched all these animals and their interactions with each other, I've been amazed at how they determine who is going to be top dog. It seems as if there has to be a top dog. The chickens do their little neck dance and fly at each other. The bigger turkeys grab the smaller ones and each other by the back of the neck and then sit on them. Vanna and Bill chase each other a bit--so far Vanna is the victor and she sends Bill running back to his house. I haven't quite figured out the guineas, yet. There seems to be one main guy that does all the jabbering, but I'm not sure how they determine which one has the right to be the loud mouth. Very unfriendly and suspicious, the guineas won't let any of us near them. They seem to work together. I guess this makes sense considering the nature of their existence. They like to sleep in trees, and I'm sure one of them has to always be on the lookout while the other guys sleep. They are from a different culture, one in which working together makes the most sense. But still, there's the one guy being the loud mouth thing.

In the humanities, we spend a lot of time talking about hegemony and the dominant culture, resistance to the dominant culture, and other such stuff. For the most part, it seems that we are more supportive of the resistance of the dominant culture than supportive of the dominant culture. I guess we like to think that we are actually thinking about what is going on in the world, and aren't just following blindly. We don't like the top dogs. Certainly it would seem that our jobs as teachers is to get our students to begin to think about the world in a more critical, analytical manner, that is, consider the possibilities, search for alternatives, think for themselves.

But humans are animals, aren't we? In the animal world, there is a top dog, and that position is often determined in some really mean ways, like grabbing someone's neck and sitting on them. While humans might not grab each other by the neck and sit on each other to determine who is top dog, we have other ways. In this culture, it would seem that the top dog position always stems from wealth. And in some ways, maybe the rich do become top dog by grabbing necks and sitting on people-- it is simply done behind closed doors where the rest of us can't see what is going on.

I would like to believe that humans have evolved to the point where there doesn't need to be a top dog, where we can work together equally to benefit mankind, which, in turn, also benefits ourselves. This, I am beginning to believe, is just a dream. I don't think we have evolved nearly far enough for this to become a possibility in any near future.

But the fact that we can imagine it does make it possible, right? If we can talk and dream about such a world, doesn't that mean we can work towards it?

But in the meantime, what are we supposed to do and how are we supposed to work to make such a world possible? Do we fight the dominant culture, resisting the neck pressure and the big guy on our back pressing us down? Or do we make like turkeys, and accept that the biggest guy becomes the leader, shut up and let peace reign? For I don't think there can be any doubt that peace can be possible if there is no resistance to the top dog. If every country could accept one country's position as top dog, wars would cease and we would stop killing each other, and there probably wouldn't be starvation and all the other bad stuff that goes along with that. If we could just believe in the same God, think how much better the world would be!

We say we want world peace now, but have we really stopped to consider what that would mean? If we haven't evolved to the point where we don't need a top dog (and I assert we aren't nearly close enough), peace would come at a terrible price, one that I'm not willing to pay. I don't want some rich powerful people telling me what I can believe, what I can do, and that every animal I own has to have a chip in its neck so it can be kept track of.

And in my daily life, if I am to stand for what I believe, have personal integrity and be my own best friend, peace will not always be possible. I might not always be able to shut up. I might have to make waves and tick people off. There are always going to be people who don't want to hear no, or yes. It seems that there is a price to pay for personal integrity.

Maybe the peace I need to seek comes from listening and following my own heart, even if it means creating unpeaceful surroundings. As Sue keeps reminding me, what really matters is that at the end of the day I like myself. Maybe that means shutting up in one situation, or maybe that means speaking out in another. Maybe if at the end of the day we ALL liked ourselves, we'll begin to make more like the guineas, and the real possibility for peace won't be as far fetched as I have come to believe.